Why this ride
177 km from Turnhout to Turnhout, about 3 h 56 of riding. It goes by way of Béguinage de Hoogstraten, Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal, Stadhuis en Belforttoren and Flemish Béguinages.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Béguinage de Turnhout and Flemish Béguinages
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 177 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 56
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Béguinage de Hoogstraten → Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal
This part of the ride is 34 km of Béguinage de Hoogstraten → Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 34 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Béguinage de Turnhout
Turnhout lies in the Kempen, the sandy, wooded heath of northern Belgium, only a few kilometres from the Dutch border, and the beguinage here is a small village within the town, with brick houses, a church and quiet courtyards behind a wall. The city has nearly forty thousand people, and the beguinage is about half a kilometre from the centre. It is one of thirteen Flemish beguinages inscribed by UNESCO in 1998.
Read the complete Béguinage de Turnhout write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Béguinage de Turnhout is where the day begins. Next is Béguinage de Hoogstraten.
2. Béguinage de Hoogstraten
A béguinage is one of the most peaceful places in the Low Countries: a walled enclosure of small houses around a green courtyard and a church, built in the Middle Ages for béguines, women who lived a religious life of prayer and work without taking permanent vows. They could own property, leave if they wished and support themselves by weaving, teaching or nursing, which made the béguinages a unique form of female independence in medieval Europe. The béguinage at Hoogstraten, in the north of Antwerp province near the Dutch border, is one of thirteen Flemish béguinages on the World Heritage list, and it is a quiet, charming place, with whitewashed houses, a baroque church and a garden where time seems to slow.
Read the complete Béguinage de Hoogstraten write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Béguinage de Hoogstraten comes up 25 km in. Next is Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal.
3. Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal
Rik Van Looy, one of the great Belgian cyclists of the 1950s and 1960s, was known as the Emperor of Herentals, which tells you something about the priorities of this town in the Kempen. Herentals lies on the flat heathland of the province of Antwerp, and in the middle of its market square stands the old town hall, built in the fourteenth century as a cloth hall, a lakenhal, when the town grew rich on wool and weaving. Its belfry is part of the UNESCO listing of belfries of Belgium and France, a symbol of civic pride and of the freedoms that merchants bought from their lords.
Read the complete Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
49 km in you reach Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal. Next is Stadhuis en Belforttoren.
4. Stadhuis en Belforttoren
Lier's Grote Markt is one of those squares that makes you slow down without being asked. In the middle stands an elegant eighteenth-century town hall in pale stone, and grafted onto its side is something much older: a slim Gothic belfry from the fourteenth century, its four corner turrets giving it the look of a castle chess piece. Together they belong to the group of Belgian and French belfries listed by UNESCO, symbols of the moment when medieval towns won their freedoms and built towers to prove it.
Read the complete Stadhuis en Belforttoren write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Stadhuis en Belforttoren, about halfway. Next is Flemish Béguinages.
5. Flemish Béguinages
In the thirteenth century, a remarkable movement spread across the Low Countries. Women, often unmarried or widowed, chose to live together in communities devoted to prayer and work, without taking the permanent vows of nuns, keeping their property and the freedom to leave. They were called béguines, and their walled settlements, the béguinages, became towns within towns. The Groot Begijnhof of Mechelen, the great béguinage, is one of thirteen in Flanders listed by UNESCO, and at its height it housed well over a thousand women, making it one of the largest communities of its kind.
Read the complete Flemish Béguinages write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Flemish Béguinages sits at 98 km, about halfway. Next is back through Stadhuis en Belforttoren.
6. back through Stadhuis en Belforttoren
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Stadhuis en Belforttoren write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Stadhuis en Belforttoren comes up 123 km in. Next is back through Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal.
7. back through Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
147 km in you reach back through Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal. Next is back through Béguinage de Hoogstraten.
8. back through Béguinage de Hoogstraten
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Béguinage de Hoogstraten write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Béguinage de Hoogstraten, late in the day. Next is Béguinage de Turnhout.
9. Béguinage de Turnhout
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Béguinage de Turnhout write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 177 km.
Leg by leg
Béguinage de Turnhout to Béguinage de Hoogstraten
Béguinage de Turnhout → Béguinage de Hoogstraten is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Béguinage de Hoogstraten to Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal
Béguinage de Hoogstraten → Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal to Stadhuis en Belforttoren
Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal → Stadhuis en Belforttoren is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Stadhuis en Belforttoren to Flemish Béguinages
Stadhuis en Belforttoren → Flemish Béguinages is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Flemish Béguinages to back through Stadhuis en Belforttoren
Flemish Béguinages → back through Stadhuis en Belforttoren is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Stadhuis en Belforttoren to back through Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal
back through Stadhuis en Belforttoren → back through Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal to back through Béguinage de Hoogstraten
back through Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal → back through Béguinage de Hoogstraten is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Béguinage de Hoogstraten to Béguinage de Turnhout
back through Béguinage de Hoogstraten → Béguinage de Turnhout is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.